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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Selling My Books on the Streets of Brooklyn 12/11 - Pet Peeve

My thanks to the folks who bought books today, and to Madeline, who made a three-for-one trade in my favor. The local library is closed indefinitely due to flooding during Hurricane Sandy.

Here's an article I wrote about a decade ago. It's about a ten-minute read:
   Short Riff on a Pet Peeve
   Whatever happened to art, subtlety in film? Do you believe, as I do, that nudity in cinema is gratuitous? The French (of course) are the latest to expand the boundary, allowing penetration in a mainstream project. It's not surprising. Where else could filmmakers have gone to shock? It was inevitable. I now understand what those opposed to Elvis' gyrations were fighting, although I doubt they feared things would go as far as they have. In retrospect, Elvis seems so tame. However, he pushed the boundary, one that Madonna seemed to have maximized. Not so. The worst fears of the prescient have been realized - no, surpassed.
   I cannot recall a single instance wherein nudity was essential to a scene. I enjoyed it when I was younger. It was more easily rationalized than looking at a girlie magazine, as it was in the name of "art." I now view it as immaturity. In fact, I see little art, the subtlety that makes art, in films. They are a bludgeoning by the overt, mostly in language, too often in sexuality. Profanity is common. Are screenwriters so condescending as to think an audience needs the aid of expletives to understand emotional context? Are actors so insecure as to need the crutch of profanity to convey feeling? I don't believe either is the case. There is nothing wrong with the talent pool. Largely, it is an effort to be real, true. Viewed cynically, it is merely the enticement of the dollars of the cherished young demographic. Given the conversations I overhear and the words that occasionally escape my own lips, it is real. Art, however, is not real. Even in Goodfellas, whose real-life counterparts undoubtedly employ such language, the cursing becomes irksome. So much of it could have been eliminated, without substituting "damn" or "hell." It would not have detracted from the realism of the film. Acting is pretending. A preponderance of profanity is grating. Nudity is distracting. Penetration belongs in pornography, which is not pretending but actualization. What is needed is artful storytelling.
   In Presumed Innocent, was it necessary to show Harrison Ford fondling Greta Scacchi's beautiful bare breast? Wouldn't their lust have been ascertained without that shot? I find infinitely more sexuality in the way Jean Arthur looks at Alan Ladd in Shane. It's barely perceptible. One must pay attention. Such nuance engages, invites speculation. During the unforgettable final sequence, Little Joe cries out: "...And mother wants you. I know she does...." The words echo against the mountains hauntingly, although the child does not understand the nature of his mother's attraction to the gunfighter. My eyes glaze whenever I think of it. It is the echo of the unfulfilled passion common to the human experience. Because the characters are so honorable as to never consider an affair other than in the furthest reaches of the mind, the situation is especially compelling.
   The teeming sensuality of "The Dance at the Gym" in West Side Story is a perfect example of the elevation of sexuality to art. Admittedly, there is some bumping and grinding, but the action smolders despite the fact that the participants are clothed fully and elegantly, the men in suits and ties. Imagine - a dance sequence without crotch-grabbing!
   This is not a plea for censorship but for artistry. There is a place for vulgarity, but it seldom works as art. I never laughed harder than during the scene in Kingpin wherein Woody Harrelson, in order to meet his rent, services his skanky landlady, and then is haunted by her image periodically throughout the rest of the film.
   I understand the profanity in Tool's Aenema. It captures the futility of that dark feeling when everything seems false. I wonder if it will be the last hard rock piece I respect. I've turned to standards, an antidote to the ugliness prevalent in our culture and the news. I am stunned by what Cole Porter, Ira Gershwin,  Johnny Mercer and the like manage to convey within the confinement of song. I got the shakes the first few times I heard Diana Kraal's quiet take on I've Got You under My Skin, a young woman demonstrating a wisdom beyond her years.
   I hope this reflects wisdom on my part. Maybe it's just the surrender of middle age. This is an era wherein testosterone is exalted. I've come to think more clearly, to appreciate beauty, since mine has diminished. Or maybe that's just the rationale of someone resentful of the passing of his youth. Maybe modern artists are imbued with clarity, unencumbered by the restraints of a false decency forced upon society by the narrow minded. I argue otherwise. And you may find, upon reading some of my fiction (most yet to be published) that this reflects hypocrisy. I would counter that sexuality in literature is different than that in film. For one, the imagination must be engaged to conjure a scene. It is not detailed in living color on a large screen - and it does not require actors to strip. In revision, I find myself eliminating practically all profanity or finding artful (hopefully) alternatives. I'm almost glad that my work has taken so long to find daylight.
   Art must engage, elevate. In To Have and Have Not, Lauren Bacall asks Humphrey Bogart if he knows how to whistle. "You just put your lips together and blow," she says, and exits, leaving Bogie to ponder just what she meant. It's corny and, essentially, meaningless - except for all that is conjured. The imagination runs wild. Interpretation is left to the individual. It is a perfect example of the art of sexuality.
Visit Vic's sites:
Vic's Third Novel (Print or Kindle): http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3

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